“You don’t have to wait for something to come along, to land in your lap, to make itself known. You can create something from scratch, just the way you want it, from your own passionate imaginings.” ~Barrie Davenport

Are you doing what you love to do? Do you wake up in the morning excited about the prospect of getting back to what fills your heart and moves you?

Or is life a grind?

Do you dread Mondays and thank God when it’s finally Friday? Are you trapped in a life that seems to have ambushed you? Do you daydream of a different life? Of someone else’s life?

Or maybe you’re feeling like there’s something missing, like your life is the equivalent of drinking watered-down milk at room temperature?

Passion Requires Action

What would you say (and more importantly, what would you DO) if I told you that you could start living a life of deep passion, doing what you love and loving what you do?

Would you be interested to know how?

Would you take action on it?

“We must act out passion before we can feel it.” ~Jean-Paul Sartre

Would you start to fill your life with more passion and purpose and meaning? Keep in mind that passion is not the product of wishing; it’s the product of doing.

That’s what divides the world, you know. There are those who wish and dream and never take their lives out of park.

Then there are those who figure out what they want, shift into gear and hit the gas.

Deep down, who do you yearn to be?

The Sadness of an Unlit Candle

Candles are meant to be lit. They are created for the very purpose of giving light. Decorative candles that sit on shelves gathering dust, never doing what candles were meant to do, are a sad sight to me.

They remind me of people who place themselves on shelves and never light the wick of their own lives. A person’s life is meant to be lit too, filling life with light like candles fill rooms.

What is the flame in your life? Is it lit? Is there light and heat? Or has the wick of passion been allowed to go out?

“There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” ~Nelson Mandela

Look at passion as though it were a living, breathing thing. If you feed it, it will grow and thrive and expand, filling your life with joy and happiness. If you don’t, it will eventually do what all living things do when they are not fed.

The saddest thing to me is to meet a musician who no longer plays music or a poet who has never written a poem or a dancer who never signed up for a class or put on dance shoes or walked onto a stage.

Unmet and undiscovered passions are flames that are never lit and happiness that is never realized.

The Passion of Purpose

So stop living life in neutral and start living with your foot on the gas. It doesn’t have to be pushed to the floor, just enough to move you forward and get your blood pumping a bit.

Light the flame of purposeful living. Don’t wait. Start filling your life with whatever meaning and passion it lacks.

Every day you don’t, you delay doing what you were created to do.

If you don’t know what excites you, that’s fine. Experiment! Pick something up and give it a try (artistic, expressive, athletic, entrepreneurial, technical, mechanic, spiritual, moral, developmental, whatever). If it doesn’t float your boat, set it down and try something else. If that doesn’t, try again.

“When you have a sense that your passion has meaning and impacts others in a positive way, it will energize and fulfill you more than you could ever expect.” ~Barrie Davenport

Choosing to fill your life with what makes your heart beat will transform it. You will be filled with more energy and love and excitement. You will be driven to do and create and discover. You will feel the warm blood of purpose course through your veins, adding meaning and value to your life. You will be happier, more fulfilled, more in love with the life you lead.

Does the prospect of a more passion-filled life excite you? Enough to do something about it?

3 Steps to a Passionate, Purpose-filled Life

1. Discover what makes you tick

So, what floats your boat? If you know, you know. But if you don’t, you may find yourself living in the shadow of relentless sameness, spinning wheels, going nowhere, unfulfilled, unexcited, frustrated, bored.

If that’s the case, start exploring possibilities. Try new things. Talk to new people about what they love. Read. Learn. Discover. Make a list of interests or even potential interests and see if something stands out. As you expose yourself to opportunities and look into what’s out there, dive head first into what moves you.

“Finding and living your passion isn’t a linear process. Sometimes you have to test and try various things before you find what really makes your heart sing.”~ Barrie Davenport

It might be dance. It could be music. Perhaps it’s business or sales or working with your hands or movie production or foster care or graphic design or marketing or acting or politics or blogging or martial arts or the cause of happiness.

You’ll never know what gets you up and out of bed in the morning until you explore your possibilities.

I’ve tried sports, guitar and piano. I’ve worked with abused children, trained in three different martial arts and created two board games. I’ve tried my hand at writing a novel, drafting post cards, and teaching myself to paint with water colors so I could write and illustrate a children’s book. I’ve read over a thousand books on history, philosophy, religion, psychology, sociology, biography, politics, government, economics, management, leadership, happiness and other self-help topics. I’ve traveled and served and have made my life a grand experiment. I started teaching high school a decade ago.

Some of these experiments were, well, less than successful. Others have paid the bills. Some I’ve liked and others loved.

Then I stumbled onto blogging. And I knew I had found my passion. I love to write. And to write about topics that truly matter in ways that helps others fills me with a deep kind of satisfaction. I’ve enjoyed so much of my life, but now have something that drives me, that surges through me, that excites me. My whole life led me here. Without the trials and errors, and the attitude that produced them, there’s no way I would have ever attempted blogging.

2. Make a date with what you love to do

Make time for doing what moves you. It’s so easy to get caught up in the daily grind of doing all the things that have to get done, living paycheck to paycheck, always running, always behind, never really enjoying life, never having time to pursue your passion.

So schedule it! Calendar in park days, play dates, concerts, field trips to nature centers and how-to workshops and seminars. Schedule time to practice the flute or climb a mountain or paint or write or sing. Even if it’s only a few minutes here and there. Life is lived in the moments, so fill them with passion and your life will be more passionate.

You don’t have to get paid for it. You just have to do it. Set aside time when phones are turned off and email is ignored and purpose is fulfilled. Then as circumstances allow, stretch the moments.

3. Get help

Sometimes we have seemingly insurmountable obstacles that get in the way of pursuing new ideas and exploring possibilities. We tell ourselves it won’t work or that we wouldn’t be able to make it work even if in theory it otherwise would. We tell ourselves we’re too busy or it’s too expensive or we’re too old or too sick or lazy or tired or inadequate.

We fear taking that essential step and so we leave our lives unexplored, undiscovered, uncreated. We believe the lies we tell ourselves and so we stay in the shadow of our own lives. We leave the wick unlit. The purpose unsought. Passion unknown.

But that’s not what we’re all about. That’s not what life was created for. That’s not the life you were meant to live.

Sometimes we just need a good kick start. If that’s all you need to take a step toward the unmet passions of your life, that’s awesome! Go get to the work of building a life you’re deeply happy about living.

But if you need more–a push, some direction, help, a community, a mentor and coach, try my friend Barrie Davenport whose life work is helping people find and live their passions.

It can change your life in unbelievable ways.

Passionately.

And forever.

YOUR TURN!

What’s your passion? Have you found something (several things?) that gets you excited about life? How did you discover it? How are you using it?

31 Comments

Hi Ken, Oh absolutely. There are no unused “just for pretty” anythings in my house – we use the antique silverware every day. That does mean you lose the occasional piece down the garbage disposal every once in a while, but better to live every day than die every day, I say.

Funny, I just put something on my FB page today about passion, with a quote from “What a Feeling” from the movie Flashdance.

But do I love my life? Oh yes. Sometimes I’m just going through my day and I am struck by how much I love it. Not because of any particular aspect. I love it even when I’m feeling sad. Sometimes I even say it out loud, like I can’t believe I’m so blessed. “I love my life soooo much!” Ha!Galen Pearl recently posted … Entitled to Miracles

I can see the love you have for your life in your photo, Galen. So much sheer joy in your smile, in your eyes and in your countenance! Just love that photo. Having read your book (twice!), it’s so obvious you’re having a love affair with living.

Haha! Yes, Galen’s smile is contagious. But me, a movie star? Well, I wouldn’t turn down a paycheck or two from a well-paid actor, but no thanks to that kind of paparazzi-filled life—even if I did have any acting ability (which I don’t)!

S.T.A.R.? I guess so if what you mean is: “Silly Tall American Rogue” or the “Satisfied Thinker Always Reads” or “Shipwrecked Talker Almost Rhymes”

This is a very uplifting post. Thank you for publishing it. I’ve been feeling a bit empty lately. I think it’s probably because I need to do something I’m passionate about in my life. This is set me thinking more deeply about it.Anne recently posted … How To Change Your Feelings

Thanks, Anne. Glad to have helped get the mental juices flowing. Has blogging lost some of the passion it seemed to hold for you when you started?

Whatever it is that gets you passionate again, I trust it will be something wonderful. You have so much to offer the world, whether in the area of personal development or something else altogether.

You might want to consider Barrie’s program. Go to her site directly to avoid feeling like I’m steering you there to get the affiliate benefit. I just know she’s an expert at what she does and I have lots of confidence in her ability to help those looking to find the passion they lost or haven’t yet discovered.

Just a thought.

Thanks for stopping by Anne. I always smile when I see your name show up here.

Thank you, Ken. It’s not blogging I’ve lost interest in, it’s other things that I used to love doing before. I’ve just got to delve deeper to find my way 🙂Anne recently posted … How To Change Your Feelings

What a wonderful post, Ken. I believe in trying my hand at all the things I enjoy doing. No wonder I have a long list of hobbies and an ever growing list of things to try or do. My Mom used to say I am blessed with the ability to be successful at everything I attempted (I suspect she simply motivated and encouraged me that way) but I am glad I usually never let her belief down.

Over the last decade, I’ve realized that I go after everything I do as though I am on a mission (even if it is scrubbing the floor) and I am ready to take feedback – good and not so good. I confess, depending on what I want to pursue, I do have the initial fears – but over the years, I’ve learned to get over them quicker. What motivates me now is the realization that I only have one life (I am not a cat, you know, Meeow) and I should minimize regrets. I’ve also learned that it is absolutely okay to fail – but it is not okay not to even try.

I am glad I quit a corporate job where I raked in the cash to follow my passion – one that lets me work from home.

I love Barrie’s work and am the happy owner of her 52-week life passion project book and workbook and enjoy reading them tremendously. Self-improvement is a great process and so rewarding. The best thing is, satisfaction with oneself and happiness do not always involve money.

I always remember something my Mom would repeat. She’d say, if she were to die that moment, she’d go happily. And then she would count her blessings, telling us how blessed she was to have us as her family.

You and I sound similar in some ways, Vidya. When I decide to pursue something, I get submerged in the thing, totally engrossed and thoroughly engaged. I also like and even often go seeking feedback, caring more about the best outcome than any sort of pride or ego in it as I learn and grow (or at least not too much!).

I think my daughter picked up all the great-at-everything-she-tries genes. I do fine, but she masters things so quickly.

Yep, Barrie is great. And I agree—money is very rarely required for life satisfaction and happiness.

I think I heard a little bird say something about a book about your grandma coming? (Did I get that right?) Will you have a bunch of your mom’s wisdom prominently displayed there too?

Well as Dr. Seuss would say – I am stuck in that “waiting place”. Things I loved to do more than ten years ago no longer fit in with my life philosophy of today. It could be that my passion is right under my nose, simply I have not found it yet, or it is waiting to be discovered… it shall appear in it’s own due time 🙂Cheryl recently posted … Discovering A Traditional Diet Based On Your Family Tree

I’ve been there, Cheryl. In my late teens/early twenties, I went through a philosophical change that caused me to reevaluate some of my priorities and interests. So I know what you mean.

And I like your attitude. Some people start worrying and stressing too much about lacking this or that in their lives at any given moment, as though every hiccup in life was a sign of some emotional cancer that needed immediate and drastic treatment.

But to allow life to unfold, waiting to see what unwraps with the unfolding, is a wonderful way to embrace the moment, even if looking for something to sink your teeth into while waiting.

After seven years of living on a homestead one realizes that things don’t just happen because you want them to. The weather is the weather no matter how much it rains or the sun shines. Most people tend to complain at the extremes, even though that they can’t do a thing about it. If (we) stop being upset that the snow has kept us inside for four months, then we can appreciate all of the time that we have had for sewing, spinning and writing instead. A matter of priorities for sure. A life not rushed is a life well lived.

Wise words, Cheryl. Very wise words. I’ll remember this one: “A life not rushed is a life well lived.”

Many of us have habitually become frantic and frenetic, harried as we rush from this to that and from here to there. So when lights don’t turn green fast enough or it takes too long for the snow to melt, we can hardly stand it. Then, as you say, too much time gets spent complaining and whining and moaning about what is and too little time enjoying what could have been.

Thanks so much for the wisdom, Cheryl. We would all benefit from time spent on a homestead, I think.

PS: I LOVE your avatar photo: a beautiful baby and a mom who knows the meaning of joy!

I like that, Dan. All work and no play truly does make Jack a dull boy, to quote a nursery rhyme.

Do you have long-range goals for acquiring traits and characteristics that add to happiness too? Doing what makes us happy is important. But becoming a happy person by developing attitudes and qualities that tend toward happiness is as well. Any of those more permanent characteristics of happiness on your radar?

That’s a good question. keeping the flow of happiness is not always trivial.. There are two essential points I’m trying to work on: 1. Whenever I see I go into negative energy I take a deep breath and calm the mind, go back to positive. 2. I try to change my perspective on stuff, and thus see a better world and attract the good. it requires effort, but it’s really worthwhile. And thanks for your very nice and positive post.Dan recently posted … Changing Perception to Change Reality

Both are worthy efforts, Dan. I think we are all working on those two, to one degree or another. Most things in life that are of the highest value and worthwhile require effort, right? I certainly agree with you about how worthwhile working on our happiness is. That’s part of the reason I do what I do here, after all.

Great post ,it is really inspiring! Thank you for taking the time to write it I honestly don’t have a lot of things I’m passionate about though.. I’m hoping someday I’ll be able to find some stuff I’m afraid it’ll be too late then though !rachid recently posted … Best 25 Smile Quotes That Will Inspire You to Smile More

Hi Rachid! I have to tell you with everything in me that it’s never too late to find something to be passionate about. Passion can sometimes be a function of what you do, but I’ve found it’s usually a function of the internal nature of the person. Try reading my posts on boredom. While I have no idea if you’re bored or not, some of the principles may help you find more passion and love for living and doing and learning and becoming in your life. Try Part I and Part II. Then let me know what you think!

Hey Ken, I can really feel your passion in this post. It’s so important to keep the passion alive even when we face challenges. I hope that this post touches people who may have mislaid their passion or who are still trying to find it.Neil Butterfield recently posted … Baobab Fruit Powder &#8211; The South African Super Food

Thanks so much, Neil. I hope it helps spark something inside people who lack that passion too. There are so many amazing things to get excited about in this world of ours. I think there are so many people who passively hope for passion but don’t work for it. They never venture very far away from what they always do, so never bump into those things that would have resonated with them had they experimented with life a little more.

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About Me

My name is Ken Wert, the founder of M2bH. My purpose here is to teach you how to live a richer life of greater purpose and meaning, of mind-blowing possibility and deeper, more soul-satisfying happiness than you ever dreamt was possible. Join us on this happy adventure as you learn how to unlock your hidden potential to enjoy the rewards of a life well lived. Read more ...